vela

vela¹ sail

Pronunciation

• Brazil: /ˈvɛ.lɐ/^[1]
• Portugal: /ˈvɛ.lɐ/^[1]
• Northern, Portugal: /ˈbɛ.lɐ/^[1]

Forms

vela f (plural velas)^[1]

Etymology

The word for a ship's sail is borrowed from Latin vēla, the plural of vēlum (“sail; sheet, curtain”) taken as a feminine singular, according to Houaiss and Wiktionary.^[2][1] The oldest texts have the inherited Old Galician-Portuguese vea, without the intervocalic /l/; the form with /l/ appears in the 14th century, and Wiktionary says it displaced the older word.^[3][2][1] Nascentes takes the kept /l/ as proof that the word was refashioned after Spanish vela, and Meyer-Lübke's REW derives the Portuguese word from Spanish.^[4][5][6]

The same Latin word is Italian vela, Catalan vela and French voile.^[6] The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *wekslom, which its diminutive vēxillum (“standard, banner”) supports; it is usually derived from Proto-Indo-European *weg- (“to weave”), with Welsh gweu (“to weave”) and Old English wice (“wick”) as cognates.^[7][1] Wiktionary mentions a second, less likely derivation from *weǵʰ- (“to ride, carry”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria have logo baixarõ a vea “at once they lowered the sail” and alçaron sas veas “they hoisted their sails”, and the Demanda do Santo Graal o vento deu na vea “the wind struck the sail”.^[3] The Crónica Geral writes alçarõ as uelas et forõ sua carreyra “they hoisted the sails and went on their way”, and the Crónica Troiana suas velas tẽdidas “their sails spread”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

By metonymy the word named a sailing ship, and later the sport of sailing; it is also the canvas stretched on the arms of a windmill.^[2][8] Barbosa's dictionary of 1611 already distinguishes the ship's mainsail from smaller sails.^[9] Morais (1813) records dar à vela and fazer vela “to set sail”.^[10] Aurélio adds the southern constellation Vela.^[8] In informal Brazilian Portuguese the word can mean sugar-cane spirit.^[2]

Timeline

• 13th century – vea in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[3] Houaiss's first record of the word.^[3][2]
• 14th century – uelas, with the /l/, in the Crónica Geral.^[3][2]
• 15th century – the spellings vela and vellas.^[2]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists the sails of a ship.^[9]
• 1813 – Morais records dar à vela and fazer vela.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sail, the piece of canvas or nylon that drives a boat by the force of the wind: Os marinheiros recolheram as velas.^[2][1]
2. A sailing ship.^[2][8]
3. (sports) sailing.^[2][1]
4. The canvas stretched on the arms of a windmill.^[2][8]
5. (astronomy, with a capital) The constellation Vela.^[8]
6. (Brazil, informal) Sugar-cane spirit, cachaça.^[2]

Word family

• velame
• velacho
• velear

vela² candle

Pronunciation

• Brazil: /ˈvɛ.lɐ/^[1]
• Portugal: /ˈvɛ.lɐ/^[1]
• Northern, Portugal: /ˈbɛ.lɐ/^[1]

Forms

vela f (plural velas)^[1]

Etymology

The word for a candle is a back-formation from Portuguese velar (“to keep watch, stay awake”), first meaning the act of keeping watch.^{[2][1][11][8][12]} Nascentes explains the candle as the light one keeps burning while watching.^[5] Wiktionary considers an inheritance from Latin vigilia (“wakefulness, watch”) less likely.^[1]

The verb is from vigilō (“to stay awake, keep watch”), itself from vigil (“awake, alert”).^[11][1] Spanish has the same noun Spanish vela beside its verb.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo's first record is a document of 1314 in which someone's men esteueren por lo moesteyro aa vela “kept watch at the monastery”.^[3] The Crónica Geral speaks of men who went round inspecting as vellas “the watches, the sentries”, and a cantiga uses vela for watchfulness.^[3][13]

Semantic evolution

The old senses were “watch, vigil” and “sentry”: Cunha dates vela “sentinel, watch” to the 14th century, Pereira (1697) still glosses it as vigia, and Vieira records a primeira vela “the first watch of the night” and estar em vela “to be awake”.^[11][14][15] Bluteau (1712–1728) gives the candle of tallow or wax as the first sense.^[16]

Later the name passed to things shaped like a candle: the porous filter of a water filter, the spark plug of an engine (vela de ignição), a medical bougie, and an old unit of luminous intensity.^[2][12] In Brazil segurar a vela or ficar de vela is to keep a courting couple company, and the person doing so is vela too.^[2][17][1] In Rio Grande do Sul the word also means the mucus hanging from a child's nose.^[18] The word passed into Kadiwéu as weela.^[1]

Timeline

• 1314 – aa vela “on watch” in a Galician document.^[3][2]
• 14th century – Cunha's date for vela “sentinel, watch”.^[11]
• 15th century – the spelling uellas.^[2]
• 1697 – Pereira glosses vela as vigia.^[14]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines the candle of tallow or wax.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of keeping watch; a vigília.^[2][12]
2. (dated) A watchman, sentinel.^[2][19]
3. A candle: Acendeu uma vela quando faltou a luz.^[2][1][12]
4. The porous cylinder of a water filter.^[2]
5. A spark plug, short for vela de ignição.^[2][1]
6. (medicine) A bougie, a slender instrument for exploring or widening body passages.^[2]
7. (physics, dated) A unit of luminous intensity.^[2][12]
8. (Brazil, informal) Someone who keeps a couple company, a third wheel.^[2][1][17]

Word family

• velada